Inheritance

The roots of China’s recent boom extend deep into its imperial and communist past. But tradition’s legacy is a complicated one. To achieve modern development, China had to throw off the “yoke” of traditional society. Yet the long traditions of centralized government administration, kin-based entrepreneurism, and value placed on education and diligence prepared the Chinese well for capitalism. Despite catastrophes like the Great Leap Forward and the famine in its wake, Mao Zedong’s nation building efforts between the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the unleashing of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 laid socialist foundations for the subsequent boom. Even the disastrous, decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution contributed to the boom: By eroding public support for radical politics, the ground was cleared for a transition from revolution to reform—for new policies that were gradualist, internationalist and capitalist.

The Cultural Revolution Broke All Patterns of Restraint

The Cultural Revolution

China’s Growth is Like a Slingshot

An Opportunity to Question the Whole Existing System

Zhang Jingjing

Deputy Director, China Program, Public Interest Law Institute

Zhang Jingjing is deputy director of the Public Interest Law Institute's China Program. Committed to justice and strengthening the rule of law, Zhang is one of China’s leading public interest lawyers. An outspoken environmental advocate, she represents pollution victims in law suits and promotes public participation by helping communities organize public hearings on environmental rights and licensing processes.

Zhang has won milestone cases in the Chinese courts, including the first successful environmental class action suit in China, against a chemical company that discharged toxic substances in Fujian Province. She has been frequently featured in the media for her pioneering work. Formerly director of litigation at the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, she is currently deputy country director of the Public Interest Law Institute’s China program.